Center highlights energy, water issues for Colorado Springs residents

Solar panels power the pump that runs the waterfall in the xeriscape garden at the Colorado Springs Utilities Conservation and Environmental Center.

In the belief that it is better to show than tell people about conservation, Colorado Springs Utilities has created a Conservation and Environmental Center where clever, informative exhibits teach visitors about wise energy and water use.

Housed in a former utility office building just northwest of the city, the Conservation and Environmental Center has been open for about two years. The municipal utility funds the facility as part of its customer outreach program.

Started with a garden

Originally, the building housed the Springs Utilities water and energy conservation staff, and a Xeriscape Demonstration Garden decorated the grounds. Springs Utilities has used the garden for more than a decade to promote xeriscaping methods for water conservation in the semi-arid climate. "Overall, indigenous plants will always use less water than a green lawn," said Conservation Specialist Stephen Leinweber. "Our customers are very receptive to the idea."

The garden also served as an inspiration when the utility moved the water conservation offices to a new location. "We decided to use the extra space to promote energy conservation along with wise water use," Leinweber recalled.

Springs Utilities remodeled the space, giving a permanent home to traveling educational exhibits. Leinweber has since created more exhibits with the help of the utility's carpentry shop. A library was added for pamphlets, DVDs, CDs and videos on energy and water conservation and xeriscaping. Visitors can do more research on a computer with Internet access to URLs selected by energy experts. The center also provides a printer to allow people to print out the results.

Gardening enthusiasts can access the 10-year-old Xeriscape Plant Database from the center's computer. "It's a very popular tool," said Leinweber. "Say, someone wants all red flowers in their garden. They select the bloom type, growing season and conditions, and the database will list the plants that meet their specifications," said Leinweber. "Each entry has a picture of the plant and a profile with all the information about growing it."

To drive home the benefits of gardening with native plants, a diorama of a xeriscaped lawn compares water use with a model green lawn. "The green lawn has a Tyrannosaurus Rex figure in it because that type of lawn is for dinosaurs," Leinweber joked.

Aimed at consumer education

Most of the Conservation Center exhibits are aimed at residential customers, said Leinweber. "Business and industrial customers are generally more attuned to energy management," he observed. "Bigger users have higher energy bills, so they have more incentive to save."

The first exhibit visitors encounter is designed to get them thinking about general residential efficiency. It includes an Energy Star clothes washer, low-flow showerhead and toilet and a rain sensor. "It's a collection of simple and relatively inexpensive measures consumers can take to use less energy and water," said Leinweber.

The weatherization and insulation displays get more specific, focusing on the building envelope. The "Truth Wall," a wall cross-section mounted on wheels, reveals all the different penetration points where heating and cooling—and money—can leak from a house. The display also shows different types of insulating material visitors might consider for upgrading their home insulation.

The electrical safety exhibit is an important aspect of consumer education, as is the water history timeline. Water played a central role in the development of the West, and continues to be major concern. The timeline illustrates that history with an overview of water development and use in the Springs area.

Meters make impression on visitors

The home lighting display connects incandescent and compact fluorescent lamps to Watt meters so visitors can compare the difference in consumption. Another Watt meter hooked up to a Christmas tree allows visitors to switch between C9, C7, mini-lights and LED decorations. "Next year, we are planning two trees, one with all mini-lights and the other with LEDs, connected to an analog meter," said Leinweber. "The analogue meter makes a bigger impression on people. We are always looking for better ways of communicating energy use."

Another lighting display focuses on municipal applications, such as LED traffic lights. "This exhibit is just informational—not designed to change anyone's behavior," Leinweber noted. "It lets people know that local government is doing its part to save energy, too."

The automated meter reading exhibit has the same goal—to show customers how their utility is using technology to improve service. Springs Utilities is in the process of converting electric, natural gas and water meters to an automated system. "The display shows visitors the old method, what we have now and what we will have in the future," said Leinweber. "They get to see how the new system can read up to 250 meters in 30 seconds."

Generation – manual and renewable

Interactive exhibits are among the center's most popular. The energy bike, for example, demonstrates how much energy appliances consume—the hard way. Visitors sit down on the manual generator and try to pedal hard enough to light an incandescent light, a CFL, radio, TV or hair dryer. "No one has been able to make the hair dryer work yet," said Leinweber.

Some renewable energy exhibits also give visitors the chance to "be the resource." To demonstrate wind power, visitors aim a hair dryer at a mini-turbine. The air current turns the turbine, which generates electricity to power a ceiling fan. In the solar exhibit, a halogen lamp shines on a miniature PV panel to turn the ceiling fan.

Outside in the xeriscape garden, a solar panel converts the real thing, sunlight, to power the pump that drives a decorative waterfall. The array includes a power inverter and a meter that lets visitors read the system's monthly output.

Increasing visitor traffic

Bringing more Springs residents into the center is one of Leinweber's goals for 2008. A new Web page for the Conservation Center and the Xeriscape Demonstration Garden will soon be a part of the utility Web site. It will feature pictures of exhibits and the garden, an events calendar and more information about the facilities. "People have become very interested in saving energy, and we want to let them know this is the place in Colorado Springs to learn more," Leinweber said.

Leinweber would also like to see more community groups take advantage of the facility's classrooms and meeting rooms.

There are a few times a year, however, when visitors flock to the center. Earth Day, this year on April 19, is big occasion for the center, as is the first week of October, Energy Conservation Month. Those celebrations feature docent-lead tours, games that teach the participants about energy and conservation and lots of opportunities for visitors to ask questions. The utility gives away compact fluorescent lamps and low-flow showerheads to jumpstart home conservation programs. "And a lot of information about our incentive programs," added Leinweber. "Last year, about 300 people attended the Earth Day event and around 600 participated in Conservation Week activities."

Of course, visitors don't need to wait—groups or individuals can tour the Conservation Center and xeriscape garden Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. People can also volunteer to work in the garden from March to October. To arrange a tour or volunteer, contact Gerri Brown at Colorado Springs Utilities, 719-448-4800.

Resources

Colorado Springs Utilities

Xeriscape Demonstration Garden

People

Stephen Leinweber

Gerri Brown

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